Chapter II
The Enemy

Footnotes

1. The following account is based on: Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 128ff; Pogue Supreme Command, pp. 175ff; James B. Hodgson, The German Defense of Normandy, OCMH MS R-24; Capt. James F. Scoggin, Jr., ed., OB WEST, a Study in Command, containing MS # B-308 (Zimmerman), MS # B-672 (Buttlar), MS # B-718 (Speidel), MS # B-633 (Rundstedt), and MS # B-344 (Blumentritt), Hist Div, Dept of the Army (German Report Series, 3 vols, n.d.).

2. These included the areas of western Europe, Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean. See Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 133ff.

3. Founded in 1925 to protect Hitler, the SS evolved from a small bodyguard to a vast organization that formed military units called the Waffen SS. Regiments and divisions were gradually organized from Waffen SS battalions.

4. See Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pages 151-57 and 243-58 for a detailed discussion of the changes in German strategic concepts.

5. See OB WEST, a Study in Command, pages 49ff. for a description of the divergence in the operational views of Rundstedt and Rommel.

6. Herbert Rosinski, The German Army (Washington: Infantry Journal, Inc., 1944), 185ff; Fuehrer Dir 40, quoted in translation in Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, App. A.

7. See Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 247, 348-49, 373-74. The commander of Panzer Group West is hereafter referred to as Geyr.

8. AGp B Telecon, 2115, 11 Jun. There was some talk of having the upgraded corps take responsibility for the entire active front. OB WEST KTB, 12 Jun and Anlagen for period.

9. Rommel to Keitel, Beurteilung der Lage am 11.6.1944, 12 Jun, AGp B KTB Ia Tagesmeldungen; OB WEST, a Study in Command, I, 3.

10. Telecon, 1105, 9 Jun, Handakte, Chef Abt. Fremde Heere West; see MS # B-784 (Criegern).

11. Seventh Army KTB, 14 and 16 Jun; AGp B KTB, Annex 52a to Anlage 52; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 413-14.

12. After capture of the city, the American corps commander asked, but the German commander (who had been taken prisoner) refused to answer, why he had defended the high ground around Cherbourg, good outer defensive positions, instead of retreating to the better inner ring of forts to make his stand. Maj William C. Sylvan, former senior aide to Lt Gen Courtney H. Hodges, Deputy Comdr, First Army, Personal Diary (hereafter cited as Sylvan Diary), entry of 27 Jun. Major Sylvan kept his diary, dealing primarily with General Hodges' activities, with the approval of General Hodges. A copy is on file in OCMH through courtesy of Major Sylvan.

13. Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 411-12, 442; AGp B KTB, 17 Jun; OB WEST KTB, 24 Jun, Anlage 295 , 27 Jun, Anlage 355 , and 28 Jun, Anlage 575; Der Westen (Schramm); for a more detailed explanation, see Martin Blumenson and James B. Hodgson, "Hitler versus his Generals in the West," United States Naval Institute Proceedings (December, 1956).

14. Ecksparre Min, AGp B KTB, Anlagen, Fall 1940-Sep 1944, Annex 17; Notes in the Jodl Diary, 17 Jun; Der Westen (Schramm); Hans Speidel, Invasion 1944 (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1950), pp. 92-99.

15. Ltrs, Rommel to Rundstedt, and Speidel to OQu West, 21 Jun, AGp B Ia Operationsbefehle; see above, Ch. I.

16. OB WEST KTB, 25 Jun, Anlage 306. The best evidence of the changing attitude is found in OB WEST KTB, 26 Jun.

17. Rundstedt to Jodl, 1800, 26 Jun, OB WEST KTB, Anlage 340.

18. Telecon, Blumentritt to Speidel, 1610, 25 Jun, AGp B KTB.

19. ONI Fuehrer Conferences on Matters Dealing With the German Navy (Washington, 1947), 12 Jun (also published as Doc 175-C, Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 1949), XXXIV.

20. Der Westen (Schramm).

21. Guenther Blumentritt, Von Rundstedt, the Soldier and the Man (London: Odhams Press Limited, 1952), pp. 184, 198; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, p. 443.

22. See B. H. Liddell Hart, ed., The Rommel Papers (London: Collins, 1953).

23. Pz Gp W KTB, Anlagen 10.VI.-9.VIII.44, Annexes 6, 7, and 8.

24. Telecon, Rommel to Pemsel, 2150, 15 Jun, Seventh Army KTB, Anlagen Ferngespraeche und Besprechungen, 6.—30. VI. 44.

25. Wolfram's Min, 1 Jul, in AGp B KTB, Annex 33; Jodl Diary, 29 Jun; ONI Fuehrer Confs; Der Westen (Schramm); Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 445ff.

26. AGp B KTB, 1830, 29 and 30 Jun; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, p. 446.

27. ONI Fuehrer Confs, 12 Jun; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 411, 412, 447; OB WEST, a Study in Command, I, 46-47; Der Westen (Schramm).

28. Der Westen (Schramm).

29. OB WEST Ia KTB, 1 Jul.

30. "Ia Notitz fuer Chef," 1 Jul, OB WEST KTB, Anlage 415.

31. Taetigkeitsberichte des Chefs des Heerespersonalamtes, 1 Jul; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 446-47. OB WEST KTB, 3 July, clearly states that Rundstedt requested relief for reasons of health and age. This contrasts with his later denials of ever having requested relief.

32. Der Westen (Schramm); Rommel to Rundstedt, 2400, 30 Jun, AGp B Ia Operationsbefehle; Pz Gp W KTB, Anlagen, Annex 33a; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, p. 445, n.88o. Headquarters have been personalized as much as possible in the citations in the interest of brevity.

33. Liddell Hart, The Rommel Papers, pp. 480-81.

34. Handakte Chef Abt. Fremde Heere West, Jun.

35. AGp B KTB, 12, 13, 28 Jun; Interv by Hodgson with former Generalmajor a.D. Rudolf-Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, Seventh Army Chief of Staff, Washington, 28 Jul 53, OCMH Files.

36. AGp B KTB, 12 Jun; OB WEST, Anlage 101, 12 Jun.

37. James B. Hodgson, The Germans on the Normandy Front, 1 July 1944, OCMH MS R-49; see also James B. Hodgson, Command and Staff Roster, Western Command, June to September 1944, MS R-24a.

38. Seventh Army exercised operational control over Panzer Group West until 1 July, when Panzer Group West came directly under OB WEST. Until 5 July Panzer Group West depended on the Seventh Army for supply; on 6 August Panzer Group West became the Fifth Panzer Army.

39. See detailed estimated totals in Hodgson, R-49.

40. For the characteristics of the German tanks, see below, Chapter III.

41. OKH Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen Zustandsberichte, SS-Verbaende, XII.43-VII.44.

42. Ltr, I6/Stoart/Ia #3748/44, 21 Jun, AGp B la Opns. Befehle; MS # B-597 (Pickert); see Hodgson, R-24.

43. OB WEST KTB, 25 and 26 Jun, and Anlagen 315 and 340.

44. Estimate of Allied Capabilities and Intentions, Sitrep for 30 Jun, dated 1 Jul, OKW/WFSt, Lageberichte, 1-7.VII.44; Hitler Ltr of Instr, 8 Jul, quoted in full in OB WEST Ltr of Instr, 8 Jul, AGp B Fuehrerbefehle; OB WEST, a Study in Command, I, 38.

45. See James B. Hodgson, "Counting Combat Noses," Combat Forces Journal (September, 1954), pp. 45-46, for a definition and explanation of German combat effectives.

46. Hodgson, R-24, Order of Battle, 6 Jun and 3 Jul, Apps. D and F; MS # P-154.

47. James B. Hodgson, German Troops Withdrawn from Brittany, 6 June to 15 July 1944, OCMH MS R-34.

48. The term Pas-de-Calais is here and hereafter used in the loose sense as designating the coast line between the Somme River and Gravelines (near Dunkerque). See Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, p. 450.

49. Hitler Ltr of Instr, 8 Jul, cited n. 44; OB WEST, a Study in Command, I 37; JIC (44) 276 (O) (Final) and JIC (44) 287 (O) (Final), German Appreciation of Allied Intentions in the West, 26 Jun and 3 Jul, Pogue Files. For the V-1, see below, p. 34.

50. OKW/WFSt Sitreps. 1-7 Jul; Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, pp. 464-67; see Lt. David Garth, The Battle for Normandy, pp. 10-12, MS, OCMH; Lagebeurteilung OB WEST to OKW/WFSt, 1600, 3 Jul, OB WEST KTB and Anlage 452.

51. "Der Westen (Schramm), 48-49; OKW/WFSt Sitrep, 30 Jun; OB WEST KTB, 2, 5, 7, and 8 Jul, and Anlage 423; Pogue, Supreme Command, p. 180.

52. Behind the front the Organization Todt, a paramilitary formation of German and foreign laborers, both hired and impressed, was an auxiliary construction force. Formed in 1938 to build the West Wall, Todt helped Army engineers repair roads, build bridges, and construct fortifications. Order of Battle Annex 9, Semi-Mil Servs, XV Corps G-2 Per Rpt 25, 28 Aug.

53. WD TM-E 30-451, Handbook on German Military Forces (Washington, 15 March 1945); SHAEF Intel Notes of 24 Aug 44, German Replacements to the Normandy Battle Area, FUSA G-2 Jnl and File; Order of Battle Annex 2, 17 Luftwaffen Feld Division (Air Force Field Div), 18 Aug, XV Corps G-2 Per Rpt 16, 19 Aug.

54. Hodgson, R-24.

55. OB WEST OQu WEST KTB, 21 and 24 Jun.

56. OB WEST, A Study in Command, I, 91ff.

57. MS #0017 (Speidel).

58. Royce L. Thompson, Military Impact of the German V-weapons, 1943-1945, MS, OCMH; Lt Col Melvin C. Heifers, The Employment of V-weapons by the Germans during World War II, OCMH Monograph; Magna Bauer, The German Withdrawal From the Ardennes (May 1955), R-59; Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, eds., The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. III, Europe: Argument to V-E Day (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951) (hereafter cited as AAF III), p. XXV, Chs. IV and XV; Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, pp. 259-60; SGS SHAEF File 381, CROSSBOW. Allied concern over German jet-propelled planes, another new development, prompted warnings to the ground forces that any jet aircraft that were shot down were to be guarded so that AEAF personnel could make a technical examination of the remains. VII Corps Opns Memo 36, 13 Jul.



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